Exorcising virginity: Early Friday Numbers

A cursory glance at the early Friday box office estimates would indicate that The Exorcism of Emily Rose is going to kick all kinds of ass this weekend. The film, which mashes together 70s-style horror with Dick Wolfian legal drama, made $11.6 million dollars in it's first day of release. This should easily put it in line to rake in at least $25 million by the end of the frame; considering it's technically the first weekend of the fall season, that's pretty great. In fact, the second highest grossing film yesterday was not another new release, but the out-forever The 40 Year-Old Virgin – and, it only pulled in $2.5 million. That's a massive gap, and when you consider that the only other new release in yesterday's top ten is The Man, which landed in sixth place, it would appear that the audience is responding to Emily in a huge way – almost as if possessed.